Thor: Which Version is the God of Thunder?

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Marvel's Asgardian hero is hitting consoles in time for his movie. Which version is most impressive?

By Richard George

Unlike Spider-Man or the X-Men, Marvel's Thor, has spent very little time in the limelight. Outside of a shared appearance in a fighting or action game, the God of Thunder has never had a title to himself. That's about to change. Timed with the release of Marvel Studios' movie of the same name, Thor is making an appearance on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS.

I recently had a chance to spend some time with each version of Thor. But suppose you're excited for the movie and want to pick up just one of the games. Which one do you pick? Is one clearly superior? That's why I'm here, to break down each game and pick a "preliminary winner." Remember, the final review means everything.

THE BASIC IDEA

Most movie-based games seem to be prisoners of their source material. Not so with Thor. Though working with likenesses and designs from the film, the developers of each game had a great deal of freedom to shape worlds and stories suited to their respective platforms. Stories vary from version to version, but Thor will travel to regions far beyond the familiar Asgard and Midgard (Earth) realms to battle creatures from distant locales. As is standard for comic book movie-inspired games, much of the printed source material is brought into the movie realm, alternate costumes included.

THE PS3/360 VERSION

The levels I saw and played from the PS3/360 Thor focused heavily on larger-than-life combat. Primary attacks are melee and magic-based, with scripted "grapple" moves allowing players to get in close for particularly devastating maneuvers. The usual slate of experience-based upgrades is present here as well, and special objectives can be completed to accelerate the rate of character growth. Bosses typically featured an extra level of complexity, requiring players to strategically attack certainly weak points before going in for the kill.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much in this game that really made me excited. It's routine third-person combat with flashy effects and big enemies. Though the comic book fan in me was thrilled to see Thor starring in a video game, playing as the God of Thunder was decidedly less interesting. You could have substituted any hero in the lead role and I wouldn't have noticed. Battling aside, the game was graphically disappointing as well. Creature design wasn't very inspired and the level of detail was surprisingly sparse for a game due out in less than two months. Barring any sudden changes, this game is likely going to be a bumpy ride when it hits.

THE WII VERSION

Nintendo's Wii might have far less horsepower than its rival home consoles, but that seems to have forced developer Red Fly Studio to think more creatively. Visually the game has a simpler, more cartoon-like approach, one that allows the developers to keep the action high while not running into pesky hardware issues. Don't assume that's a bad thing. The design of the game is effective and certainly fits its visual tone, working for fluid and fast combat that is quite entertaining. Want to pull off 200-plus hit combos? You can do that in this game, as a quick flick of the control stick will allow you to redirect you attack to a nearby enemy. The combat system employs a bit of a "snap" system that will allow your moves to quickly and effortlessly connect, keeping the action fluid.

Walking away from the Wii version, I was stunned that Red Fly had not only managed to create a game that was more entertaining but aesthetically more appealing as well. Even if you're not a Thor fan, this might be a game to keep an eye on.

The folks at WayForward have a knack for developing compelling 2D games. Some of their recent efforts include Shantae: Risky's Revenge, Batman: Brave and the Bold, and Contra 4, all of which inspired and informed the developers' work on the DS version of Thor. Gameplay remains in 2D, and combat and level design can span both screens. The developers are using between four and eight layers of depth for level animation, creating an incredibly vibrant and detailed game. The designer I spoke with mentioned in some ways he based combat off of Nintendo's Smash Bros series, as basic attacks can be combined with directional inputs for different attacks, including the ability to pop enemies into the air or send them crashing to the ground below. Thor can also pull out segments of background columns and use them as weapons. Cooler yet is when that column crashes down to the ground behind the God of Thunder.

Thor DS includes a surprising amount of extras. There is a Survival mode as well as the ability to unlock and view portraits of all the game's major characters, which were drawn by Mark Brooks. (Comic book fans will likely know who I'm talking about.) Players can unlock additional playable characters as well, including all of the NPCs, who are then usable in a special bonus mode. Those possibilities alone have me excited to revisit the game in a couple months.

THE GOD OF THUNDER VERSION

I have to admit, all of my attention these days is focused on the Nintendo 3DS. The DS feels like a distant memory, even though I'm still playing Pokemon daily. The fact that a DS game as visually stunning as Thor is just around the corner has me incredibly excited. The fact that it plays almost as well as it looks doubles that excitement. Thor for the DS doesn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, but it executes its core concepts with such great polish. That type of refinement is completely missing from the 360 and PS3 versions, unfortunately.

The quality of the DS version shouldn't take away from what is being done on Wii. That game was effectively doing what the 360/PS3 titles weren't doing, at least from the segments that were shown to me. We'll see what arrives in stores just ahead of Thor's cinematic debut.